British media review: U.S. prosecutions highlight the unpopular tariff war

Reference News Network reported on October 7 that the

British Financial Times website published a report entitled "Thousands of Companies Suing the US Government on China’s Tariff Issues" on October 5, stating that tariffs on goods imported from China have increased. The cost of importing parts, materials or products by American companies forces them to pay additional tariffs.

The full text is excerpted as follows:

　　In recent weeks, more than 3,500 companies have filed lawsuits over the US government’s tariffs against China, which shows that companies are deeply dissatisfied with the trade war launched by President Donald Trump.

　　Many large multinational companies that have filed legal proceedings include Coca-Cola, Disney, and Ford, and Abbott Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of new coronavirus detection reagents based in the United States, also filed a lawsuit.

　　Lawyers say these companies, including household brands and small American manufacturers, have created unprecedented workloads in a short period of time after filing a lawsuit in the International Trade Court in New York.

　　Nasim Fussel, an attorney at the Holland-Knight Law Firm, said: "I was impressed by the number of lawsuits." Until last month, she had been the top trade adviser to the Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee.

　　Fussel said: "I think this figure is a good indicator of the pain caused by all this." She was referring to the tariffs imposed by the US government on Chinese goods exported to the United States.

　　"Businesses are very cautious in challenging anything because they are afraid of being publicly humiliated on Twitter, in statements, or anywhere else."

　　Imposing tariffs on goods imported from China has increased the cost of imported parts, materials or products by American companies, forcing them to pay additional tariffs.

　　This wave of lawsuits came at the expiration of the time limit for companies to appeal against two of the four rounds of additional tariffs imposed by the US government on Chinese goods exported to the United States under "Section 301".

　　Although these companies filed individual complaints and were represented by various law firms, many of the lawsuits are consistent with the arguments of the main plaintiff and vinyl flooring manufacturer HMTX Industries.

　　The company proposed that although the U.S. government has the right to impose tariffs on products imported from China within 12 months after issuing a report outlining its alleged “infringement of intellectual property rights by the Chinese government,” the latter two rounds of tariffs fall on this Outside the time limit.

　　If American companies win the lawsuit, the government will be forced to return the tariffs imposed.

Todd Tucker, a researcher at the Roosevelt Institute who specializes in international trade law, said that although tariff revenue does not account for a large portion of the US government's budget, the government still needs to write some "significant checks."

　　However, Tucker said that the U.S. trade law gives the executive "a lot of discretion" in any trade element that affects national security, enabling it to change the tariff system in response to retaliation from other countries.

　　Tucker said: "The government will insist that (the last two rounds of tariffs) stemmed from basically the same China issues and American dissatisfaction with China. We just had to change our strategy in response to their actions."

　　The International Trade Tribunal must now decide how to try these cases.

The US government has asked it to shelve all cases and select only a single case or a small number of cases for trial.

HMTX Industries believes that since the company took the lead in filing a complaint, its case should become a precedent case.